The North American T-2 Buckeye was a carrier-capable jet trainer used to prepare generations of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators for the demanding world of carrier aviation. Entering service in the late 1950s, the two-seat Buckeye provided student pilots with advanced training in jet handling, formation flying, navigation, aerobatics, and aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings before they progressed to frontline combat aircraft. Its rugged construction, forgiving flight characteristics, and side-by-side? No—tandem seating, with the instructor seated behind the student, made it particularly well suited for the demanding training environment. Later T-2 versions used twin engines, giving students experience with many of the systems and performance characteristics they would encounter in operational Navy jets. Serving for more than four decades, the T-2 Buckeye became a familiar sight at naval air stations and aboard training carriers and played an important role in preparing thousands of naval aviators to safely operate high-performance aircraft from the decks of U.S. Navy carriers.